Lake Forest College Sports Information
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

2005 Preview: Almost There

Will Pittinos (pictured) and Derek Meiring will be seniors in 2005.

The Forester men’s cross country team’s performance throughout the 2004 season showed the potential for great things for the program. However, injuries to a few runners affected the team’s overall performance at the Midwest Conference Championship, where the team finished seventh. “We were just 11 points out of fourth place,” Coach McDonie recalls, “which would have been the best finish in team history. Each year we’re gaining ground and I couldn’t be more excited about the future of the Forester Program.”

Two obvious reasons for McDonie’s optimism are Dan Hankosky and Humberto Palmerin, who became the first duo in the team’s first 10 seasons to earn all-conference honors in the same year. Hankosky, who owns the five fastest 8K times in school history, also became the first Forester to repeat as an All-MWC performer and still has two more years of improvement ahead of him. Palmerin was a freshman and Derek Meiring, the team’s third runner, will be a senior in 2005. The three of them are responsible for 18 of the program’s top 25 times. Will Pittinos was also in the top five throughout the season and is looking forward to a successful senior year.